Powell High School’s tardy and late policies have been in effect long before the current seniors were freshmen. But what do the students and teachers think about these policies, and do they feel that these policies are fair?
“I think the tardy policy is pretty fair,” freshman Anika Anderson said. “I always get to class early anyway.”
Anderson also commented on the length of the passing periods.
“I don’t think we need longer passing periods either,” Anderson said. “It would just make the school days longer, and nobody wants that.”
With so many students and teachers being forced to stay home sick, the amount of people being late or missing class has gone up quite significantly. One of the students who has missed a lot of school recently was freshman Wesson Warren, who talked about his feelings on the policy of ten sick days a semester.
“I don’t feel like it is enough,” Warren said. “I’ve already had six sick days this semester.”
While sickness is one cause of absences, there are several other reasons for students and teachers to be late or missing school, especially this time of year.
“Well, depending on their locations they [students] could get snowed in,” senior Kadin Woods said. “Sometimes the roads could be dangerous, too.”
It’s not just students who are affected by the absence policy. Student Success Coordinator Mr. Jason Quigley talks about how the absence policy is affecting him, and his take on the fairness of the system.
“High school students should be responsible enough to get to class on time,” Mr. Quigley said “It [high school] is like a learning period for when you are an adult.”
Mr. Quigley also spoke about the amount of absences given to students per semester.
“Ten sick days are more than enough,” Mr. Quigley said. “There are around 85 school days in a semester; if you miss all ten days, you miss around an eighth or so of the school days.”
Whether it is safety, sickness, or snow, students can miss school or be late for class for reasons beyond their control, especially during the winter seasons. It is pretty safe to say that students and teachers have mixed opinions about the amount of times you are allowed to be absent or sick.
